Either only blanched or blanched–dried potato slices were fried at 120, 150 and 180 1C untilreaching finalmoisture contents of 1.8 g/100 g (wet basis). The texture and oilcontent of the slices were measured periodically during frying. Normalized Maximum Force (MFn) was the parameter used to model the textural changes in the potato slices during frying in both the initial tissue softening process and the later crust development process. Both the frying temperature and the pre-drying treatment had a significant effect (P40.05) over the finaltexture and oilcontent of the fried potato chips. When frying at 120 1C, potato chips were crispier and contained more oilthan potato chips fried at 180 1C. Predrying dramatically decreased the oil absorption and significantly increased (P40.05) the crispness of the blanched potato slices after frying.